Timepiece including a color cylinder and another time indicator displayed on a different plane

ABSTRACT

A timepiece is provided, particularly at the free end of a bracelet body, by having the bracelet body terminate in a cylindrical color carrying member which, in turn, is adjacent a numerical or other display indicator at its free end for viewing in a direction which is generally axial of, or angled to the axis of the cylindrical color carrying member.

United States Patent 1191 Maue [ TIMEPIECE INCLUDING A COLOR CYLINDER AND ANOTHER TIME INDICATOR DISPLAYED ON A DIFFERENT PLANE [76] Inventor: Marilyn J. Mane, 20 Melwex St.,

Belleville, NJ. 07109 [22] Filed: July 30, 1971 [2]] Appl. No.: 167,778

Related U.S. Application Data [63] Continuation-impart of Ser. No. 696,940, .Ian. 10,

1968, Pat. No. 3,616,643.

[52] U.S. Cl. 58/126 R, 58/126 D, 58/126 E, 58/88 R [51] Int. Cl. G04b 19/00 [58] Field of Search 58/50, 1 R, 2, 59, 58/125 R, 125 C, 126 R, 127 R, 128,152 R, 3/152 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,439,492 4/1969 Gravenson 58/1 R 1,611,335 l2/l926 Campbell 58/125 0 1,930,288 10/1933 Spear 58/125 C Dec. 25, 1973 1,774,579 9/1930 White 58/125 C 2,243,343 5/1941 Johnson 58/125 C 2,411,597 11/1946 Smith 1 58/126 R 2,444,392 6/1948 Willens 58/125 C 2,757,508 8/1956 Zanetti 58/126 E FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 175,210 6/1953 Austria 58/125 C 503,106 7/ l 930 Germany.. 193,867 7/1923 Great Britam 482,863 7/1953 Italy 155,165 9/1932 Switzerland 58/126 R Primary ExaminerStephen J. Tomsky Assistant ExaminerU. Weldon Att0meyArno1d G. Gulko 5 7 ABSTRACT A timepiece is provided, particularly at the free end of a bracelet body, by having the bracelet body terminate in a cylindrical color carrying member which, in turn, is adjacent a numerical or other display indicator at its free end for viewing in a direction which is generally axial of, or angled to the axis of the cylindrical color carrying member.

9 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures PAIENIEU DEC 5 ma 1 TIMEPIECE INCLUDING A COLOR CYLINDER AND ANOTHER TIME INDICATOR DISPLAYED ON A DIFFERENT PLANE The present invention relates to timepieces which include a cylindrical color carrying member for the indication of time, and is a continuation-in-part of my prior copending application Ser. No. 696,940, filed Jan. 10, 1968 now US. Pat. No. 3,6l6,643.

In my prior copending application, there are disclosed various timepieces in which a cylindrical member carrying distinguishable colored sections, or a reference means carried by a casing enclosing the cylindrical member, is rotated at a uniform rate for successively identifying each colored section of the cylindrical member which, in turn, provides an indication of time. The present application is directed to one aspect of the prior disclosure in which a cylindrical color carrying member is employed for designating one period of time, such as minutes within the hour, and a numerical or other display member is used to indicate another period of time, such as the hour of the day, this other period of time being displayed on a different plane. This construction is particularly adapted for use in a watch having the form of a bracelet, with one end of the bracelet body terminating in a cylindrical color carrying member which, in turn, is positioned adjacent a numerical or other display member at its free end for viewing in a direction which is generally axial of, or angled to the axis of, the cylindrical color carrying member.

The invention will be more fully understood from a description of the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view picturing a braceletwatch with a particular head mounting which can be substituted by any of the head mountings shown in the remaining figures of drawing.

It should be appreciated that the head mountings illustrated as well as variations discussed herein or which become obvious from this disclosure can be used alone, as watch pins or watch fobs, or other articles of adornmentor mounted as wall clocks or simply positioned on a base as a table clock. Illustrative, more detailed watch constructions are shown in the remaining figures of drawing.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating a structure in which the hour is identified by numerals which can be seen through an opening in the end wall of the head.

FIG. 3 is a partial side elevation with parts broken away to show the details of the structure used in FIG. 5.

FIG. 4 is a partial side elevation which shows a structure which can be used when the reference indicator means is rotated and the color cylinder remains stationary.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the bracelet watch shown in FIG. 1 includes a bracelet portion or body which is integrally attached to a watch assembly enclosing a clockwork mechanism. The assembly includes a casing 11 and crystals (not shown) over each of the two time indicating surfaces. The color indicating portion 12 is represented by a rotating cylinder which measures the passage of minute intervals of an hour as the cylinder 12 is caused to rotate by driving means 4 past an open area in the casing 11, this open area being the aperture 13. Individual hours are displayed by numerals in an aperture 14 which is on a surface separate from the surface of the cylinder, as in a standard digital timepiece and indicated by 2. Winding means 15 is also provided. Reference is made to US. Pat. No. 2,925,706 where structural details are provided for the construction of bracelet watches having a watch mechanism at one end of the bracelet body.

As can be seen, the color cylinder 12 is rotated once each hour by driving means 4 within a casing 11 which is generally tubular, and which includes an aperture extending along the length of the casing so that a portion of the surface of the cylinder is progressively displayed as the cylinder rotates, the aperture providing a reference point which is fixed with respect to the casing.

With the cylinder being rotated at a uniform rate, it is only necessary to have a mechanism which is responsive to each complete rotation of the cylinder for indicating the passage of an hour on a surface separate from the cylinder 11. This separate surface is conveniently positioned at the free end of the cylinder itself. Innumerable structures will be immediately evident for detecting the completion of a rotation of a cylinder in order to actuate an hour identification structure. Thus, a conventional hour hand may be used, with the hour hand being advanced around a dial one step at a time in response to each complete rotation of the cylinder. Similarly, a cam may be positioned on the casing or on the cylinder to trip a mechanism once each hour when it either contacts, or is contacted by, a mating element on the cylinder or on the casing.

In the case where a transparent casing is employed with a separate reference indicator being rotated around the display surface of the stationary color cylinder, the minute driving mechanism attached to a minute hand of an ordinary timepiece can be used and the minute hand bent in its shaft downwardly so that the free end overlays the color cylinder display surface. In such an arrangement, the color cylinder is merely substituted for the dial of an ordinary watch, except that, instead of numbers, time is shown by the change in color indicated by the rotatable reference indicator. An ordinary dial and lance arrangement can be employed with a standard hour driving means for the second time period displayed on a different plane at the free end of the casing. It will be obvious that in such an embodiment, any standard timepiece dial, lance and driving mechanism may be used in which the minute hand is mounted beneath the dial and in which the minute hand is bent downwardly at a right angle to overlay the surface of the color cylinder which may be considered a separate dial. So many structures are possible that it is not feasible to illustrate the variations which will be immediately evident tothose skilled in the art, but one specific preferred form is shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 wherein an apertured or incompletely formed opaque tube is employed as the casing.

In FIG. 2, the numeral 29 identifies the body of a bracelet watch through which a winding mechanism for a a drive shaft extends, the winding mechanism for the drive shaft being identified by numeral 30. On the free end of the bracelet body 29 is mounted a cylindrical casing 31, the cylinder 32 being rotatably mounted with the casing 31 and with a longitudinal portion of the cylinder 32 being visible through a longitudinal aperture 33 which is cut in the casing 31.

It will be observed that the hour identification is visible at the free end of the cylinder 32, this free end being identified generally bynumeral 34.

Referring more particularly to FIG. 3, it will be seen that the cylinder 32 is mounted for rotation about its longitudinal axis, a bearing for the cylinder being provided in the drive shaft 35 which is journaled at one end into a recess in the end wall 36 of the casing 31. A sleeve 37 is utilized to receive the shaft 35 so that an hour display disc 39 can be mounted on the sleeve 37 with the hour display disc 39 being free of the cylinder 32 for independent rotation.

It will be seen in both FIGS. 2 and 3 that the end wall 36 is formed with an hour display aperture 38 through which a portion of the hour display disc 39 is visible. As will be evident from the dotted line showing in FIG. 2, rotation of the hour display disc 39 will progressively display the hours of the day.

A spur gear 40 is journaled in the end wall 36 by means of the shaft 41 and the cylinder 32 carries a pin 42 at its free end, the pin 42 engaging with the spur gear 40 at the completion of each rotation of the cylinder 32 to turn the spur gear 40 sufficiently to move the hour disc 39 a sufficient distance to display the next succeeding hour identification. In this way, the hour identification is changed at the end of each complete rotation of the cylinder 32 and is displayed at the free end of the cylinder 32, but on a plane which is different from and separate from the cylinder surface 32 which identifies, in this embodiment, the minute of the hour.

In FIG. 4, the numeral 50 identifies a transparent casing which encloses a stationary color cylinder 52, having distinguishable colors coded on its surface at 53; a standard timepiece dial 54, fixedly mounted on shaft 55, and having hour lance 56 rotatably mounted above, and minute lance 57 separately and rotatably mounted beneath, its face. The cylinder of this embodiment has a hollow head portion in which a standard timepiece driving means 58 is mounted on the shaft 55 which passes axially through the cylinder. Standard driving means 58 is operated as usual to rotate hour lance 56 in the interval of 12 hours and to rotate minute lance 57 in the interval of one hour so that the correct hour is displayed by the hour lance and dial face through the end of the transparent casing while the correct interval of one hour is displayed through the transparent sides of said casing by the minute lance anddistinguishable color of the cylinder over which the minute lance and distinguishable positioned.

The invention is defined in the claims which follow.

I claim:

1. In a timepiece comprising a casing enclosing a timepiece mechanism in which hours and minutes are separately indicated as separate periods of time, the improvement comprising a reference indicator means, a fixed cylindrical member underlying said reference indicator means and carrying separately identifiable color areas around its cylindrical surface for identifying the minutes of the hour as said color areas are positioned at the reference indicator means, means for causing relative rotational movement between said reference indicator means and said cylindrical means such that each of the identifiable color areas of the hour period are successively positioned at said reference indicator means, said means for causing movement of said reference indicator means being effective to cause rotation at a uniform rate once per hour, and means of said reference indicator means responsive to each complete rotation for indicating the passage of an hour on a surface separate from said cylindrical surface.

2. A timepiece as recited in claim 1 wherein said casing is a transparent tube, said reference indicator is a lance overlaying the surface of said cylindrical member, said cylindrical member is stationary and said indicator means is adapted to make a rotation around the display surface of the cylinder in one hour.

3. A timepiece as recited in claim] wherein hour and minute time periods are separately indicated on different planes.

4. In a timepiece comprising a casing having a fixed reference point, said casing enclosing a timepiece mechanism in which hours and minutes are separately indicated as separate period of time, the improvement comprising a cylindrical member carrying separately identifable color areas on its cylindrical surface for identifying the minutes of the hour as the said areas pass said reference point, said cylindrical member being mounted for rotation about its longitudinal axis and positioned to progressively display a portion of its cylindrical surface as it rotates past said fixed reference point, said timepiece mechanism being effective to rotate said cylinder at a uniform rate once per hour, and means responsive to each complete rotation of said cylindrical member for indicating the passage of an hour on a surface separate from said cylindrical surface.

5. A timepiece as recited in claim 4 in which the hour identification is displayed at the free end of said cylinder.

6. A timepiece comprising a tubular casing having a free end and forming part of a watch assembly, a color cylinder mounted for rotation about its longitudinal axis within said tubular casing, said cylinder having its surface divided into longitudinally extending colored sections carrying a distinguishable color identifying a predetermined time interval within the time for a complete rotation of said cylinder, said casing being formed with an aperture so that a portion of the cylindrical surface of said cylinder will be progressively displayed as the cylinder rotates, the aperture providing a reference point which is fixed with respect to the casing, a timepiece driving means for rotating said cylinder at a fixed rotational speed, and means carried at the free end of said casing for indicating the completion of each rotation of said cylinder. 7

7. A timepiece as recited in claim 6 in which said means for indicating the completion of each rotation of said cylinder is advanced one unit for each complete rotation of said cylinder.

8. A timepiece as recited in claim 6 in which said tubular casing is part of a bracelet watch.

9. A timepiece as recited in claim 6 in which said cylinder is rotated once each hour. 

1. In a timepiece comprising a casing enclosing a timepiece mechanism in which hours and minutes are separately indicated as separate periods of time, the improvement comprising a reference indicator means, a fixed cylindrical member underlying said reference indicator means and carrying separately identifiable color areas around its cylindrical surface for identifying the minutes of the hour as said color areas are positioned at the reference indicator means, means for causing relative rotational movement between said reference indicator means and said cylindrical means such that each of the identifiable color areas of the hour period are successively positioned at said reference indicator means, said means for causing movement of said reference indicator means being effective to cause rotation at a uniform rate once per hour, and means of said reference indicator means responsive to each complete rotation for indicating the passage of an hour on a surface separate from said cylindrical surface.
 2. A timepiece as recited in claim 1 wherein said casing is a transparent tube, said reference indicator is a lance overlaying the surface of said cylindrical member, said cylindrical member is stationary and said indicator means is adapted to make a rotation around the display surface of the cylinder in one hour.
 3. A timepiece as recited in claim 1 wherein hour and minute time periods are separateLy indicated on different planes.
 4. In a timepiece comprising a casing having a fixed reference point, said casing enclosing a timepiece mechanism in which hours and minutes are separately indicated as separate period of time, the improvement comprising a cylindrical member carrying separately identifable color areas on its cylindrical surface for identifying the minutes of the hour as the said areas pass said reference point, said cylindrical member being mounted for rotation about its longitudinal axis and positioned to progressively display a portion of its cylindrical surface as it rotates past said fixed reference point, said timepiece mechanism being effective to rotate said cylinder at a uniform rate once per hour, and means responsive to each complete rotation of said cylindrical member for indicating the passage of an hour on a surface separate from said cylindrical surface.
 5. A timepiece as recited in claim 4 in which the hour identification is displayed at the free end of said cylinder.
 6. A timepiece comprising a tubular casing having a free end and forming part of a watch assembly, a color cylinder mounted for rotation about its longitudinal axis within said tubular casing, said cylinder having its surface divided into longitudinally extending colored sections carrying a distinguishable color identifying a predetermined time interval within the time for a complete rotation of said cylinder, said casing being formed with an aperture so that a portion of the cylindrical surface of said cylinder will be progressively displayed as the cylinder rotates, the aperture providing a reference point which is fixed with respect to the casing, a timepiece driving means for rotating said cylinder at a fixed rotational speed, and means carried at the free end of said casing for indicating the completion of each rotation of said cylinder.
 7. A timepiece as recited in claim 6 in which said means for indicating the completion of each rotation of said cylinder is advanced one unit for each complete rotation of said cylinder.
 8. A timepiece as recited in claim 6 in which said tubular casing is part of a bracelet watch.
 9. A timepiece as recited in claim 6 in which said cylinder is rotated once each hour. 